Deal (1)
"No, wait, what? Handle us?! D-did I hear that right? You mean kill us?"
"Yes."
Thud. Kim Jungshik slammed the desk hard.
"Fuckin' hell. That goddamn bastard Park Donghyuk, biting the hand that fed him..."
He grumbled on for a bit before taking a deep breath and turning to me.
"So, you here to kill us?"
"Who knows. Judging by your reaction right now, doesn't seem like I need to bother."
I observed him closely. No real reaction even to the word "handle"...
"You've got your own abilities, so you're sitting there all confident, right? And what makes you think I'd come all the way here just to snitch without some power of my own?"
That was my take—they had skills worth that kind of confidence.
"No, no. We know."
But Kim Jungshik's response threw me off from what I'd expected. I asked,
"Know what?"
"What kind of abilities some outsider wandering alone in this fucked-up world would have."
He laid out his thinking.
"Wandering solo from the north infested with those goddamn red-skins? High chance you've got some real power for that. That's why Park Donghyuk tried dealing with you, and why I invited you here. You two must have some connection, and that outsider's gotta have some special skill."
That was a fresh perspective. Normally, outsiders would get the cold shoulder on principle.
Movies and reality really are different, huh.
People weren't as dumb as movie characters; they had their own logic. I'd have figured some random wanderer just stumbled in by chance, but apparently those blood-clump bastards were scary enough to change that.
Maybe it's 'cause the first humans I met were those Our Love Church psychos.
That church crew pulling retarded shit like murder, rape, and kidnapping—that was the real anomaly.
As I mulled that over, Kim Jungshik continued.
"And talk like 'kill this, kill that' doesn't just slip out easy between people, right? Park Donghyuk, that scary fucker. We've clashed a few times, sure, but going straight to murder? Who thinks like that?"
"......"
Well, yeah, fair point. The world had ended, but killing people still wasn't normalized for most. I'd gotten used to it after offing those Our Love Church assholes out of necessity and scraping by the past few days through all kinds of shit.
Come to think of it, that was weird.
I chewed my thumbnail, lost in thought. Talking to this guy Kim Jungshik now, it hit me—Park Donghyuk and Lee Euna hadn't flinched much at the idea of killing people.
I nodded and shared my view.
"Honestly, no clue at this point. I took Park Donghyuk's word that you guys were the troublemakers. Guess my policy of hearing both sides first holds up."
But the real issue was,
"Problem is, as an outsider, I can't tell who's telling the truth. Hard to judge."
Couldn't fully buy Park Donghyuk's story when Kim Jungshik didn't seem that bad, but Kim Jungshik's tale made Park Donghyuk's side sound reasonable too.
So I was stumped. How the hell to sort this mess?
"What're you talking about?"
"How to handle this situation."
First off, I probably needed to take Northdong Station anyway.
I tapped the desk idly, and Kim Jungshik asked cautiously,
"So, what'd Park Donghyuk offer you?"
Offer, huh.
"Eh, no harm in telling."
I explained everything—from when I entered the station to what Park Donghyuk and Lee Euna proposed.
"Holy shit. So he said if you kill us, he'll hand over everything here?"
"Yeah. Technically, no matter how you 'handle' it."
"Same difference. Fuckin' prick. Got nothing to give and still slithering around."
Kim Jungshik looked deflated.
"Told you, can't trust anyone."
His reaction screamed betrayal.
"By the way, what's your deal with Park Donghyuk? Something about section chief deputy earlier?"
The mood had shifted, so I figured he'd answer. Plus, he saw me as some dangerous solo wanderer in the apocalypse, keeping things friendly.
"Ah, that."
Kim Jungshik continued,
"Can't you tell? We used to work at the same company."
"Company? In this world?"
Country's gone to shit—no way companies were still running.
"Yeah. But... people who'd lost family needed something to lean on."
I shut my mouth.
"We were just grunts from a small outfit."
Kim Jungshik started his story.
"Sales job, running around. This time, subcontracted by Benefit Group for work up north. Me, Kim Jungshik. Park Donghyuk. Section Chief Deputy. Choi Manager. Lee Deputy—less than ten of us dispatched north, minus the boss and execs."
"Then the zombie outbreak hit."
"Yep. Families back home, us single guys bunked in dorms. Locked in when those goddamn zombies broke out. The 'section chief deputy' bullshit? Last scrap of pride from idiots dreaming of the old world. Pointless and childish, right?"
Everyone knows that shit, he added with a hollow smile.
"Job perks: tools around, stocked dorm pantry. Held out a few days. Then the beat cop lady and Park Donghyuk came to rescue us."
"Park Donghyuk wasn't in the dorm?"
"Nah, lived in Northhyang Apartments. Showed up with an axe and hammer—scared the shit outta us."
"So you linked up with the station survivors."
"Yeah, dorm was nearby. Met up, flowed here."
So Park Donghyuk did come to save his coworkers.
"After that, Park's crew wanted status window details, we got abilities, things snowballed."
"Dodging zombies and people?"
"Yep. Meant for Northdong Office, but that place was hell. Unheard-of monsters snatching people—we lost four."
"How many to start?"
"Over fifty, including us."
"Buncha worthless shits," Kim Jungshik spat, grinding his teeth.
Sounded like the blood-clump zombies—matched Park Donghyuk's story.
But that doesn't line up with what Park said earlier.
Another contradiction. Park Donghyuk claimed lots of families survived here, but Kim Jungshik said otherwise. Heavy losses...
But the vibe wasn't that gloomy.
Still, I kept listening.
"Not just us—tons died. Screaming, one slip-up. Fled here to escape. But people didn't wanna leave. More problems."
From here, it diverged from Park Donghyuk's tale.
"Friction between our company guys and the original group."
"...Friction?"
"Yeah. Park's crew started slacking. Night watch always dumped on us, rations shortchanged. We needed sleep too."
They called it strict rules, but started discriminating against Kim Jungshik's group.
"Why? No point stirring shit."
"Their group had lotsa kids and women. Felt like they were forcing us to accommodate."
"Accommodate?"
"At first, we got it. Seven guys—no big deal."
Accommodate, my ass. Keep handing out favors, they think you're a pushover.
"But then, they skimped on promised food and supplies."
"How's distribution work?"
"All ability users. Four meat summoners, one booze, one fruit, three grains, two drinks, two veggies. Meal duty for cooking and rationing. Water, power, bread—plenty, as you know."
Makes sense—with infrastructure holding and abilities, food/shelter's no issue.
"Decent number of ability users."
"Yeah, enough if rationed. But they cut our drinks and fruits entirely. 'For the kids.'"
"Damn..."
That explained it. Break promises, anyone'd rebel.
"Live on meat and rice? And all that 'kids this, kids that'..."
Kids or not, men die off, women and kids follow. Kim Jungshik trailed off.
"Fights escalated, ended up here. Didn't expect a hit contract, though."
Yeah, no kidding.
"But Park Donghyuk said you guys hid your abilities."
"We told 'em."
"Showed me files saying your group were all powerless, didn't disclose."
I recalled Park Donghyuk's folder.
Kim Jungshik looked incredulous.
"That slimy fucker's hilarious. First thing we did joining: ability check. That's a lie."
"......"
"Snake in the grass. Ugly mug scheming ugly shit. Right?"
He told me to hold on, fetched his guys.
"Chief Kim?"
"Yeah, sit. Talk's done."
"Got it."
Kim Jungshik seated the six men, pointing them out one by one.
"This guy's Section Chief Deputy. CCTV-like—controls rats to see through their eyes. And..."
Section Chief Deputy: Animal Tamer.
Choi Manager: Meat Summoner.
Lee Deputy: Blunt Weapon Summoner.
Kim Deputy: Spear Summoner.
Hwang Sa-won: Blunt Weapon Summoner.
Joo Sa-won: Grain Summoner.
"Me: Drug Summoner. Summons drugs and meds. Like this—fever reducer."
He spawned a common pill, shook it, introducing ranks and abilities.
"No point hiding. Three supports, three weapons, nothing special. Section Chief Deputy's scouting's useful, but they oddly never gave him watch duty. Then pull this shit."
"Weird."
"Not weird—fucked up. Goddamn. Hide what needs hiding. Decent human?"
Solid abilities. I eyed their summons, tilting my head.
Jeong Suhyun and the rest had one each—no big deal.
Lee Euna's got two, though.
Hers focused on "protection," so similar even if multiples.
So Park Donghyuk lied, like Kim Jungshik said?
No clue.
Tch. Hear one side, the other lies. Vice versa.
Haa...
I clicked my tongue, sighed.
Doesn't matter who's truthful.
I had a feel for resolving this. Like with Park Donghyuk's crew, I summoned two familiars above my head.
"...What's that?"
The men's eyes widened. Creepy seeing 40-50s uncles gawking, but I shoved the ice spears toward Kim Jungshik.
"My ability. Summon anywhere, multi-use."
"......"
Silence flowed. Kim Jungshik looked vindicated, said,
"Why show us?"
I faced Kim Jungshik—wait, Kim Jungshik—and spoke.
"How about allying with me and leaving here? I'll make you a new base. Cooperate as base-to-base partners."